Around Brazil – Praia do Rosa

The mainland of Santa Catarina has so many fantastic beaches that it would take months to visit them all. If you only have time for one, then Praia do Rosa is as good a choice as any. As well as great surf and great scenery (including the whale watching of course), the town itself has a twinkling charm that can also be found in places such as Arraial d´Ajuda or Jericoacoara. Unlike some of the more residential beaches, Praia do Rosa always seems to have that holiday feeling and doesn´t empty, even in the winter months of south Brazil. You can still find candle-lit restaurants open all year round here.

The bumpy, sandy roads help give Praia do Rosa the air of undeveloped beach town, yet this is also partly because the residents of the town appear to care more about their environment than many other places in Brazil. Construction has largely been limited to two stories, and the hills at the northern end of the beach protect it from the predatory eye of developers. The southern end houses some historic boat houses and also had prehistoric rock carvings (in Brazil terms), which were sadly destroyed some years ago.

Being set on a hill, one of the beauties of Praia do Rosa is that many of the small pousadas come with views of the beach. Falling asleep to the noise of the waves breaking on the shore, one of the most helpful sounds for drifting off, is something that I haven´t had enough of in Brazil. With a visiting mother to impress, and wanting her to leave Santa Catarina with memories of more than the days of rain that we´d had recently, we had to go for a Room With A View. We got just that. With a view of the whole beach at night, I couldn´t wait to wake up next morning for sunrise. The sun reflecting from the blue Atlantic Ocean, with surfers already bouncing in the waves below us is the kind of first sight of the day that I don´t wake up to often enough in Brazil.

With some of the best surf in Brazil on your doorstep, the very best kitesurfing just around the headland at Ibiraquera, the ASP World Championship Tournament event for the professionals just down the road at Imbituba, and the best whale-watching in Brazil also leaving from the port there and taking you to all three beaches, this is the perfect place to base yourself for a few days. Trails take you over the headlands to other quieter, pine-fringed beaches such as Praia Ouvidor and Praia Vermelho. If you can´t walk that far and the sea looks too rough, there are enough lagoas in the dunes behind the beach, and over the hill behind or leading from the dunes at Ibiraquera to keep you entertained.

As you would expect of a surf town, the streets are busy at night with plenty of bars and restaurants to pass the time. Some of the most charming pousadas with the best views in Brazil (we stayed at Vigia das Marés, with Nelson being a complete fountain of information on everything about the area), and plenty of cheap apartments to rent, just about everybody can experience the delights of Praia do Rosa – undoubtedly one of those special places in Brazil.

Around Brazil – Whale-Watching in Santa Catarina

The Whales are Here! Santa Catarina whale-watching season began in July with the arrival of the first three Southern Right Whales of the 2010 season. The Instituta Baleia Franca (IBF) had a little ceremony to open observation season after two adults and one calf were spotted playing around off Praias Ibiraquera and Ribanceira, between Imbituba and Praia do Rosa. Local authorities enjoyed a little jolly for the opening ceremony at Pousada Vida Sol e Mar in Praia do Rosa, which had already been organised. The three whales timed things perfectly and saved the local dignitaries the embarrassment of opening... nothing much.

The whales continue to visit the beaches and bays of Florianopolis and the rest of Santa Catarina through until October or November time. Whale-watching as an activity can be enjoyed at many of the beaches, with a little luck. Favourite beaches on the island for the whales include Moçambique & Barra da Lagoa, Armação, Matadeiro (where they were once herded into the sand for slaughtering - hence the name of the beach) and Pântano do Sul.

From the sands and the headlands of all these beaches, it is possible to see a whale or few going through their morning... their morning what? Nobody really knows why the whales come so close to shore at this time of year. They only seem to be playing, rolling around on top of each other, flapping the water with their flukes (a technical term that only those of us who have broken our whale-watching virginity are allowed to use – ‘fins’ to the rest of you), blowing, diving, breaching (another term) and all kinds of interesting behaviour. One theory has it that they hide their calves from the orcas of the area, but if that was really the case, then why do they only appear close to the shores in the morning? Do orcas only eat breakfast? Do they have an afternoon siesta?

There are more whales up and down the coast of Santa Catarina, with by far the best place to see these huge, beautiful, curious creatures being a boat trip out from Imbituba. This port town lies around 90km south of Floripa, slightly further south than Garopaba and Praia do Rosa. There are more whales per beach than anywhere else in Brazil (don’t check that stat please, I just guessed) and they like to hang around the waters of Rosa, Ibiraquera and Ribanceira in particular. These surf and kite-surf beaches can all be a little wild for putting a boat out, so the best idea is to drive to Imbituba.

The whale-watching voyages are run by IBF and are properly organised trips, with the whole coast being an Area of Environmental Preservation.

Luis and his team of guides run them from their office at the old Imbituba train station. Before the trip, a little education video is shown to the passengers about the work of the IBF and about the whales in general. The boats head out of the port and along the coast to where the whales have been sighted by fishermen that morning. The boats don’t drive too close to the whales as it can be disturbing. With calm seas, the boats can stop though, and the whales come nosing around to see if their visitors are worth impressing. This affords wonderful photo opportunities, and is one of the only places on earth that you can possibly come within touching distance of such a large creature in the wild.

Florianopolis is the usual starting point for tours, with Praia do Rosa certainly being the best place to stay close to Imbituba. Staying overnight there is not necessary to make the boat trip, but if you want to give yourselves the best chance of being nose to nose with a Southern Right Whale, a night in Rosa is a must. This way, if the seas are too rough for the humans to brave, or the whales are playing elsewhere along the Santa Catarina coastline, you can always have another try the next day.

The arrival of Brazil’s largest creatures is not guaranteed, but a memorable encounter with nature certainly is if they are around – especially if you find yourselves being interviewed for one of the Sunday night Brazilian TV Specials, as my own mother did!

Tainha Time in Florianopolis

One surprising fact about Brazil that doesn’t fit with our lazy Latin stereotypes is the amount that people work. Not only does everybody in Brazil do something, from those selling doces on the buses and beaches to Paulista high-rise office workers, but they do it for long hours. At home, being a student means staying in bed smoking maconha all day and not being capable of making your two hours of Art History or Theology lectures a week. In Brazil, even students work full days then study another four hours at night, 5 nights a week.

Nobody works harder throughout the country than the fishermen of the southern coasts during Tainha Time. In the late autumn and winter months of May, June and July, the coastal waters of Santa Catarina are inundated with huge shoals of tainha, a type of mullet. Following tradition that has been maintained since the very first Azorean settlers arrived on the island, the local fishermen take to the open seas in their wooden boats day after day to make hay as the sun shines.

While the boats may have motors, the nets don’t. With no winches, all the catches are landed by hand. The nets are large to allow the young tainha to escape, while the adults are taken in great numbers into the boat. The typical Floripa Fisherman is short and stocky, with a deep tan and arms that make Popeye look like me. While out at sea, it is impossible to appreciate the amount of work that goes into pulling a net with perhaps dozens and dozens of 3-5kg fish.

Boat after boat arrives on the beach or at the dock to unload huge catches. Enormous nets are also spread out from the beaches, and the whole male half of the community, kids and adults, joins in the pull. The sands are soon piled full of hundreds of tainha, glistening and flopping around in the winter sun. One single cast into the waves with a personal net can bring in three or four at once.

As an insight into the traditional lifestyles that still form a big part of Florianopolis life, a trip to see the daily tainha catch arrive is very worthwhile. A helping hand may also result in you being one of the many people walking the streets of Floripa carrying a large fish as thank you for your help.

Clean it, gut it, fill it with fresh coriander and garlic, wrap it in aluminium, then put in the oven or the churrasco for 30 minutes. Leave the foil off for another 10 minutes or so and you can eat your catch.

The Best Club in Brazil…?

I can boldly state, without fear of being completely wrong, that the best clubs in Brazil, perhaps even in South America, are in Santa Catarina.

There is no other place that has so many clubs ticking so many of the boxes that the best clubs need to have ticked. It begins with the music of course. To have the best music, you need to have the best DJ’s. The best DJ’s in the world come to South America for huge events such as Skolbeats in Sao Paulo, Reveillon in Rio, Carnval in Salvador and Creamfields in Buenos Aires. Names such as Fat Boy Slim, Sander Kleinenberg, Darren Emerson and Deep Dish have all made the journey down this way recently. There is little point in travelling thousands of miles just for one gig, so they generally squeeze in a bit of a warm-up a night or two before. More often than not, they visit clubs such as Warung, on Praia Brava above Balneário Camboriú, and El Divino, P12 and now Pacha close to or on Jurerê Internacional on Florianópolis.

Perhaps they come here because the atmosphere on the way to and inside these places is more relaxed than Rio, less shady than Salvador. Perhaps the people who make the journey from Curitiba, Porto Alegre and even Sao Paulo provide a more cosmopolitan crowd than clubs in Buenos Aires with porteños all seeming to hide their insecurities behind sunglasses while dancing in the same ´treading grapes´ style.

Being sited out of the cities, the clubs have scenery of beaches, mountains and lagoons that those of Sao Paulo can never hope to match. There is nothing like being able to see the sea while dancing in a club.

My favourite club in Brazil, South America, perhaps even the world, doesn´t have this vista do mar though. Much like the best clubs in Ibiza are up in the hills away from the strip (and away from the drunken British holidaymakers!), Brazil´s Best Club is tucked away down the backroads on the rural side of the motorway from the mini-Rio of Balneário Camboriú. It makes a strange contrast to park outside a wooden cow shed, with the attendant smells of four legged beasts, while parking alongside some 4x4 beast that may have never been so close to mud before. The church-going villagers of interior Santa Catarina must wonder.

As with the best clubs in Santa Catarina, Ibiza and the world at large, it is an open-air venue, one tented roof to keep off the rain. As well as the music, the atmosphere and the setting, you also need beauty on the inside. I will put this place alongside anywhere you care to name in any place in the world. There are more stunning girls (and boys) than any club I have ever visited. The VIP Area earned the nickname Silicon Valley, but unlike in clubs built for being seen, this is a true dance club. Girls may be wearing floaty feminine summer dresses and high heels, but this does not stop them trucking on through the madrugada.

2008 finished in real style as we took our visiting friends there to see Paul van Dyk on 30^th December, warming up for his Rio Reveillon gig on Barra de Tijuca. You can be as astounded as our gringoes were as the sun comes up over the surrounding mountains with thousands of beautiful people from all over South Brazil still partying hard around the lakes and stairs of the club, as well as filling the space under the tent. As the dark of night and the grey of dawn turn to blue daylight, you will also begin to appreciate how well-named is my Green Valley.

Understanding Brazil – Farra do Boi

Crawling along the roads of Santa Catarina at Easter time, there were a couple of roadside signs that caught my attention. The first one said ‘Atençao – Comunidade Indigena´. Now your guess is as good as mine why Brazilian motorists might need a sign warning them of native people in the area. Perhaps old tribal hunting routes are still used that cross the BR101, or it has taken centuries for these groups to adapt to the ways of the Europeans and their metal horses. Absolute rubbish, I know, but I really can´t think of a good reason.

The second sign very prevalent at this time of year says ´Farra do Boi nao é tradiçao. É crime.´ I asked what Farra do Boi involved and the answer took me a little by surprise. Knowing a little about Brazil´s two main Boi-based folkloric festivals, Bumba Meu Boi and Boi Bumbá, I couldn´t understand why another of those might be a crime.

Bumba Meu Boi takes place in Sao Luis, capital of Maranhao, as well as throughout the North East. The parades are re-enactments of a story that involved a man killing the best bull because his pregnant wife had a vontade to eat the tongue. This was a crime and the man responsible was in big trouble until the bull was resuscitated by magic and he was pardoned. Lucky him and so far so good.

Boi Bumbá is the craziest festival in Brazil bar none, more so than Carnaval in Rio. I´ve only seen it on the film of someone who provides the costume material but that was enough to leave me with a feeling that this is one party I need to see. The setting is the island of Parintins, a few hours downstream from Manaus. With a similar idea to Carnaval, two sides of the island, the reds and the blues, compete with costumes and dances to tell the story of the kidnap, death and resurrection of the ox. I haven´t enough room here to describe the craziness of 40,000 people sitting in a purpose-built stadium that is only used once a year to watch enormous dancing bulls on an isolated island sitting in the middle of the Amazon River. You really need to see it with your own eyes and so do I.

These festivals may be competitive but are generally a fun celebration for everybody, which even the losers can enjoy.

Farra do Boi on the other hand is something that you probably don´t want to see. It takes place around Easter time in various villages around the south. The poor boi is confined and starved, sometimes with food and water left tantalisingly within reach. After a few days, the celebration begins with the bull chased from his pen and basically beaten up by the villagers. There isn´t any point dressing it up. This isn´t the running of the bulls at Pamplona, or even bullfighting. No matter your opinions on those, at least you can sometimes enjoy watching the bull do some damage.

Farra do Boi appears to have the same pain but with none of the artistic merit, and is plain old-fashioned cruelty from the stories I heard. After a little run around, the frightened boi gets tired quickly, which is when the fun starts. A group of people walk alongside the weakened beast, kicking and punching it, beating it with sticks and whatever else comes to hand. It seems to be mostly a male past-time so I guess some proving of masculinity is the basic reasoning behind it.

Or perhaps it does relate to Easter in ways too tangential for me to understand. When the children ask why their daddies spent their day tortured a fairly dumb, totally defenceless animal, the men reply ´That´s the story of Jesus´

Around Brazil – Garopaba

Easter is traditionally a time of chocolate and crucifixion, a strange mix of pagan fertility festival and religious fervour. For me, Easter in Brazil seems to be the time that I head to the dunes and I’d like to make it an annual event after the way the previous two have been. Jericoacoara, a crucifixion, a full moon and sunrise last time, Garopaba this.

The area is possibly Brazil’s surf capital, and Easter weekend is full of surfers, girls who surf, girls looking for surfers, and guys who don’t surf trying to catch the girls looking for surfers instead of catching waves. I stayed out of all that nonsense, avoiding the busy waves by pretending that I can do it any time at home. I will though, one day.

The dunes at Garopaba (strictly behind Praia Siriú but who´s counting) are more fun and could well be one of the best bargains in the whole of Brazil. R5 to hire a board for as long as you want to play in the dunes, or you could even turn up for free entertainment. Even then, the slog up the tallest dune is worth it for the view along the coast to the southern end of Florianopolis, never mind the people crawling up and falling down it all day. Unlike the seriousness of surfing individuals, the comedy of sandboarding can be enjoyed by everyone. Laughter rings around the sand hills, with people of all ages bursting out as their friends set off down the slopes, spray up sand and then roll through it like a salsicha in farofa. Sometimes the body stops but the board slides gently to the bottom for extra comedy value. The laughter makes you turn to look every time to see at least the end of falls like this. Refreshing too to see parents giggling inanely as their children cartwheel down slopes using their little heads as points of balance for brief periods.

My particular favourite was one guy that I should have followed for the whole day. The skills required for snowboarding and sandboarding are a little different to surfing. The balance should be on the front foot, with the back foot for direction control. The surfers tend to crouch as low as possible towards the back, raising the board at the front and leaving them with no control. My friend seemed to have no fear at all and set off down the slopes before veering, sticking the edge of his board in the sand and tumbling down in a cloud of arms, legs, hair and board. Undeterred, he was up and off for another 10 metres before I´d even wiped the tears away. He somehow managed the feat of knocking himself over with his board, one foot coming out of the strap and the board smacking him on the back as he tried to stop running down the hill.

I wasn´t much better though, truth be told. The girls seemed to pay their R5 to have something to sit on at the top of the dunes, watching as I paddled my way down the hill on a plank that didn´t turn, trying to crack a dune that did. My ribs came closer to cracking and the sun was setting so I collected my board from the bottom and climbed back up. I couldn´t understand what the girls found so funny, my falls didn´t seem that spectacular, but I probably will when I´m still finding sand deep in my ears next Easter. See you in Joaquina for more of the same then.